May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG wants to
sell its new PC-24 from 2017 as the Swiss maker of military
trainer aircraft expands its private-plane offering to take on
Embraer SA and Textron Inc.’s Cessna.

The PC-24 will cost $8.9 million and seat up to ten,
Chairman Oscar J. Schwenk said today at the Ebace aviation
conference in Geneva. First flight of the model featuring
Honeywell International Inc. avionics and Williams International
engines is due late next year, he said.

Pilatus, which counts the Singapore and United Arab
Emirates air forces among its customers for PC-21 military
trainer planes, already builds the PC-12 turbo-propeller for
private use. The PC-24 marks the company’s first foray into the
personal-jet market, where it will compete with products such as
Embraer’s Phenom family and the Cessna Citation M2.

“The PC-24 is not a me-too product, it is much more,”
Schwenk said in unveiling a model of the plane. “It is as
versatile as a turboprop, offers space like a medium light jet,
and the performance of a light jet.”

Schwenk said the design is based on customer feedback from
some of the more than 1,200 users of its PC-12 propeller plane,
who sought more speed and a bigger cabin. The company will start
taking orders from next year.

Unusual for a jet, the PC-24 will be able to operate from
grass strips and other unimproved runways with a take-off
distance of 2,690 feet, or 14 percent less than rival offerings,
Schwenk said.

“We aim to fill a niche market,” he said.

Parts production for the first of three prototypes has
already started, with a goal of rolling out the plane in the
third quarter of next year ahead of first flight. The two
additional test models will combine for a 2,500-hour flight
trial phase to obtain regulatory approval in 2017.